For months, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been leading the field of potential Republican 2016 contenders. Now, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is posing a challenge on his right. But is he ready for prime time? WSJ politics reporter Reid Epstein explains. Read More »

The House of Representatives could take legal action to access Hillary Clinton’s private email server if she doesn’t allow an independent investigator to examine it, a Republican lawmaker said Sunday.

“The House as an institution may be forced to go to court to get access to that,” said Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), who chairs the House Select Committee investigating the killing of an American ambassador in Benghazi, Libya, during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.

Mrs. Clinton’s server has been at the center of a controversy in recent weeks after the disclosure that she used a personal email as Secretary of State rather than a government address, raising concerns about whether her emails were retained as required under public records laws. Ms. Clinton has said she followed the law.

Mr. Gowdy, who appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said he doesn’t have evidence Ms. Clinton has lied or committed a crime, but he doesn’t trust that she and her legal team made the right determinations about what emails should be turned over to the government. Read More »

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Sunday said the GOP would only vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general after considering a bill on human trafficking that Democrats have objected to because of language it includes on abortion.

Mr. Obama nominated Loretta Lynch for the post last year. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted in February to move her nomination to the Senate floor for a final confirmation vote. But that hasn’t happened amid opposition to Mr. Obama’s immigration policies and now the unrelated bill. Read More »

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Sunday it was “appropriate” for Republicans to send a letter to Iran’s leaders criticizing U.S.-led nuclear talks and warned that Congress would have a say over any agreement.

Forty-seven GOP senators last week wrote to Iran’s leaders to warn that an agreement between President Barack Obama and Tehran could be quickly nullified or changed once Mr. Obama leaves office. The move infuriated the White House.

“The president is about to make what we believe will be a very bad deal,” Mr. McConnell said on CNN’s State of the Union. “He clearly doesn’t want Congress involved in it at all and we’re worried about it.”

Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday the Republicans’ letter “weakened the president’s negotiating ability.” Read More »

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is bulking up his political team in preparation for a likely presidential bid, adding three veteran operatives who played senior roles in George W. Bush’s re-election.

The Christie team is expanding its political operation as his allies launch a super PAC to raise large sums from wealthy supporters in order to advertise and conduct voter outreach on behalf of the New Jersey governor, in what most expect to be a prolonged and expensive nominating fight. Read More »

A letter signed by 47 Senate Republicans warning Iranian leaders that the next president could simply toss out any nuclear deal that Congress doesn’t approve represented a loud shot across the bow of both American and Iranian nuclear negotiators.

It also represented a kind of Senate coming-out party for Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Read More »

Americans – and especially Republicans – want a presidential candidate who backs using combat troops against Islamic State militants, a stark reversal from the isolationist stance of just a year ago. Read More »

The letter co-signed by 47 Senate Republicans to “The Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” comes at a critical point in President Barack Obama’s negotiations with the nation and marks the latest attempt by Congress to interject itself in discussions that have been fraught with controversy. Here are some takeaways from the letter. Read More »

Sunday’s talk shows drew out lawmakers and administration officials on a range of topics, from Hillary Clinton’s email problems to the battle against the Islamic State extremist group. Here’s a roundup of the top quotes from the Sunday shows:

“There are gaps of months and months and months….We have no emails from that day…In fact, we have no emails from that trip.”

- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” referring to the absence of emails from Mrs. Clinton’s private account while she was secretary of State, including a trip to the site of the Benghazi, Libya, attacks that killed four Americans. Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.